Heading Out

Josh and I are heading to Taupo (the city next to the lake Taupo, the largest crater lake in the world) in about an hour. We are looking forward to hanging out with Marty and Candice. They have been heading up the IWT project in Ohio, so there is lots to catch up on. We hope that you all have a wonderful first couple days of 2009.

Happenings around the world

For all of those readers wondering what is happening with us....here is short account.

Our students in the Philippines
1. MJ is recovering well at the base in Manila. She is now regaining her strength.
2. Triston - has made it back to Australia after being released from the hospital on Christmas Eve. You can imagine attempting to rearrange airline tickets when all insurance, airlines, and everything else is shut down for Christmas.
3. Our team in the South are working with a kids camp for the week in an outer island.
4. Our team in the North is focusing on "Red Light District" ministry in the capital city.

Family Stuff
1. Alana Cole (Josh's 16 years old sister) is with Misty's family in Kansas City, USA for the Onething conference.
2. Misty wishes she was also with her family in Kansas City, attending the conference she used to help run.
3. The Greater Cole's are in Snell's Beach with Anna (Josh's other sister).
4. We have a few more days of work before hopefully taking a short break over new Years to see our co-workers and friends that are here from America.
5. We are off to go flea bomb the inlaws house while they are away. Apparently the dog has something to answer for besides killing all the turkeys.

That's about it from the peanut gallery. Hope everyone is well. Miss miss you guys!

Philippines in photographs

Want a larger view? Just click on each picture.

Update on our sick students....

I just talked with Josh who is now heading for the airport in Manilla. Some of you might have been praying for the situations at hand....and some of you may not know what is happening. Things alway get interesting on outreach.

MJ - MJ came down with pnemonuia and was in the hospital for 5 days. She is now back at the base and is slowly getting better. Her grand-daughter Kelly is staying with her while the rest of the team is out doing ministry.

Triston - Triston has been diagnosed with Dengue Fever and is in Hospital in Davao. His team has postponed traveling to the outer regions of the area till after Christmas. He’s feeling a lot better today, and his temperature has dropped dramatically. That also means his platelet level has also dropped a lot and he may have to have blood transfusion, which apparently will prevent internal bleeding. The doctors are monitoring him very closely and he has someone from the team by his side 24-7. They say that he should be out within 3 days, which is great news.

Misty - Back in New Zealand, I was hit in the eye by a flying champagne cork at work. I was lucky and it hit the "eyebrow bone" and not the eye. I think this is the last time I follow company policy of offering champage to our clients. It should be a bit black and blue by tomorrow. Perfect timing for Christmas pics :>

As you can see we need your prayers. Thanks for being involved in our little journey.

Davao

Kia ora from Davao, Philippines! The people here have beautiful hearts, and the hospitality has been off the charts! If you like fresh mangos, papaya and pineapple, I’m telling you, this is the place to be! I have been here for the last 5 days with half of the DTS, the outreach team that has been focusing on the Mindinao Island. It has been great being here, seeing so much growth is each and every team member. The ministry opportunities have been so diverse, they have done everything from Prayer/Worship, street evangelism, physical labour, church services, youth services and ministering to sexually abused girls. The fruit has been awesome. The other night a couple of the team were sharing the gospel with a group of teenagers down town, and 8 guys and 2 girls gave their lives to Jesus! This morning as some of the girls were sharing the love of God with about 20 young girls who had been abused, there were many tears shed as these girls were told how beautiful they were, and how much God loves them. Awesome!

While being here I have also had the opportunity to connect with many of the leaders here which has been awesome.

Tomorrow I’ll be flying to Manila in the afternoon to spend the next 3 days with the outreach team there. I’m really looking forward to connecting with them all and hear testimonies of how God is working there in and through them.

Please be praying for MJ and Tristan, they are both sick and are out of action at the moment.

Christmas is Almost Here

What do parades, cotton candy, brazilian dancers, caramel apples, Scottish bagpippers, people walking around in bathing suites, and giant crains have in common? Well....not much except that they all made an apperance at the Mount Maunganui Christmas festival today (that I happend to attend by default when I was at work). Yes, we totally celebrate Christmas differently in New Zealand than those in the Northern Hemisphere do....but I think that is due to the fact that it is simply really hot outside. If we drank hot chocolate we would litterally start sweating!

This week is already turning out to be a busy one. I have yet to talk with Josh, as the internet connection where he is has been cutting out....but I have gotten a couple of emails. For all those parents of our students, be reasured, everyone is in high spirits and are busy getting down to ministry, mostly with teenagers. In a couple days Josh will leave the south and go to rejoin the team in the capital city. Hopefully communication will be better from there.

Hong Kong

Hong Kong is an incredible city of 7 Million lined with hundreds of skyscrapers everywhere you look, lights, shops, and people absolutely everywhere. Being here has really taken me back to my high school years growing up in Singapore. It’s been a real privilege to be here during this significant time to lay the ground work for what is coming in May/June 2009. We’re here alongside Mark Anderson, the International founder and director of the Impact World Tour, and also the director of the Call2All and the Global Pastors Network. The Call2All is a vision to gather all of the top leaders in the body of Christ to provoke them to focus outwards on accomplishing the great commission and adopting unreached people groups. It is a congress which is seen as a precursor to the IWT events to bring unity and vision for reaching those who don’t know Jesus. It’s believed that this can be completed within the next 10 years.

In the first week of June 2009, the first ever global Call2All congress will be taking place in Hong Kong alongside the global day of prayer and the global day of missions. We’re expecting 3,000 of the worlds top leaders in the Body of Christ to converge on Hong Kong for a week of seeking the Lord and strategizing to reach those who don’t know Jesus. The YWAM Asia/Pacific field leaders (300-500) will be also be gathering alongside this congress. We’ll also be looking to do some smaller scale IWT church based outreach events here around the same time with the view of eventually doing full blown campaigns down the line. This is a very strategic time as Hong Kong is the gateway into China, and also the financial hub for this part of the world.

We have been asked to help coordinate and facilitate these meetings/events next year. We’ve had an incredible time the last couple of days with many divine appointments and connections. Today we have a vision sharing meeting with Mark Anderson and about 100 leaders in Hong Kong including God TV leadership who will be involved next year. It’s exciting what is taking place.

Tomorrow morning I fly out to Davao, Philippines, to reconnect with the DTS outreach team. Both teams are doing well, and seeing God move in incredible ways. It’s great to be part of what God is doing in Asia. More to come….

Zach and Josh

Hey guys! Josh has arrived safely in Manila and from the reports I have been hearing things are going very well. Everyone is in high spirits and full of faith, in the midst of learning to do new things. Here is a report from one of the students.

"Friday we went to a slum. We broke up into small groups and headed out to different sections of one of the poorest area's i have seen in my life. We all told testimonies and preached Jesus crucified and His resurrection to all in the streets! We even played basketball with a group of 12-15 year old. Others ministered to a church leadership! Wonderful things happen; inner healing and even a women with one deaf ear was healed as one of the team members prayed for her! But, the best part for me was all the beautiful children! at one point 3 of us gathered around 50-60 kids and told bible stories. It was cool."


This is the girls learning how to wash clothes without washing machines.

On the way....

Today at noon Josh started his journey to the Philippines. He lands sometime tomorrow, hopefully after a few hours sleep on the plane. There will be lots more news from the team once he lands. Despite lots of trips over the last two years, it never seems to "normal" to have him gone. I guess now I will have some extra time to prepare for his Birthday, Christmas, and catch up with girl friends.

Oh well off to clean the house after the whirlwind of packing.

The Philippines.

Part of a Journal entry by one of our DTS outreach team members in the Philippines. WOW.

Nov.29th, 2008

"As I write this I'm sitting rooftop Manilla. Since arriving I have been overwhelmed with the sights and sounds of this 18 million + city. In less than 48 hours I've experienced more desperation and poverty than I've seen in a lifetime. Most of me wants to get on a plane and head back to Tauranga; where embracing "normality" and going about my daily life is both easy and delightful. But as I look over this city with a headful of images from yesterday, I know I can't turn away from the people in this nation. I can't pretend I didn't see the beggar sitting outside the metro line, eyes guaged out and hands extended pleading for help. I can't ignore the precious children without parents, beggin for money with beautiful smiles on their faces. What of the 2 young boys who let me take their pictures, grinning from ear to ear, only to be violently dragged off by policemen less than 1o minutes later. Where were they taken? Who is their defender? I can't wipe from memory the young mother sitting on dirty steps nursing a baby with open wounds covering the better portion of her legs. I can't possibly forget the look in her eyes as we laid hands on her and asked Jesus to heal and provide for her. I see children lying in the middle of the streets, crying with no one there to help them. I see a young child with an emaciated body and bulging eyes lying in her mother's arms as multitudes pass by without even a second glance. I see thousands lined up outside a massive church, waiting with the hope of being healed by the local "faith healer," a black magic practitioner. There are tables upon tables of ways to "purchase" salvation and wholeness. The endless icons, thick incense, and darkness in the eyes of the people selling these are overwhelming. All I can think of is Jesus and the time He overturned the tables in the temple; outraged that His people had turned His house into a marketplace. My heart wrenches inside of me when I see vials of solution that effectively destroy infants in the 1st and 2nd months of pregnancy. It's an abortion in a bottle. Even if I could smash every one I saw it wouldn't be enough. How can I ignore a nation that has been built upon the blocks of free-masonry; that millions are living underneath this kind of demonic bondage... everything I see makes me want to fall on my knees and groan in my prayers to Jesus. If my heart feels this way, how does He feel? I have no words that are adequate, and nothing to offer but myself and the true God who lives within me. I won't forget these. I won't choose the easy path. I'll pray and contend for the reality of LIVING HOPE, that will bring these precious ones into an inheritance that will never spoil or fade."

They have landed...now what?

We just got a call from our friend Curt in the Philippines. Everyone, including Rene (see the below story) has arrived in Manila. They have a few days of orrientation before digging in.

Josh and I had a good 10 hours of sleep before beginning to work on the administration side of the school. Now, just to prepare for the final week of the school and graduation. Once all that is done, we will turn our attentions back to preparing for IWT in this region of the world. Mark Anderson, the founder of IWT will be in the Philippines to connect with our students and Josh who will be there next Thursday.

There really is never a dull moment. Keep checking this space - it should be pretty intersting if yesterday was any indication.

And they are ALL off....well of course there is a story behind it.

The morning started early yesterday. At 1am I dragged myself out of bed and got ready for the day ahead. By 3am Josh and I had arrived at Faith Bible College and were loading all the students, staff, and luggage into the vans. By 3:30 we were headed toward Auckland. After a brief stop at storage and flash light lit search for misplaced travel insurance we were really on our way. By 7:30am all last minute instructions, hugs, and prayers were said. Seventeen staff and students where waiting in the Quantas check in line to depart.

With to go coffee in hand Josh, Raph, and myself headed back to vans to make our rental deadline back in Tauranga. Halfway down the Auckland motorway (highway for the Americans reading this) we recieved a call. Our student Rene was being denied access onto the plane. Apparently the airline officials were determined that he could not board without a particular visa our travel agents told us he did not need for a layover in Australia. As you can imagine drama unfolded from there. Raph contiued on to Tauranga to return the rented van while Josh and I quickly got on the phone.

Our travel agents (who are friends of ours) answered their emergency contact phone number and went to work. About an hour and dead cell phone later, Josh and I returned to the airport to pick up Rene. Our amazing travel agents managed to get him on a later flight, as long as we could get him the visa. Off we went to the Australian Immigration office. The sign on the window said "Transit Visa's processed in 10 working days" - we had two hours. We filled out forms, waited, and eventually saw the immigration officer. He said it could take 10 minutes, 2 hours, or 10 days. Take a seat and see if it comes through in time. It is out of my hands"

Good thing it was out of his hands, and it was in Gods. Twenty minutes later he called us back to the counter stamped Rene's passport and sent us out the door. AMAZING! The visa had been processed accross the Tasman almost immediatly. We rushed back to the airport and saw Rene through to customs. So....yeah after all of that they are ALL on their way to the Phillipines.

Preparing for Outreach

In 6 days, the DTS heads off to the Philippines. As you can imagine this week is full of preparations for the next couple of months. Dalton Lifsey has been speaking on the Cross and the Evangelism and we are ready to get out there. One thought that has really struck my heart this week is the following quote.

"What you believe about the cross determines your eternal destiny. When you think about the cross, do you believe it is foolish or wise?" - Dalton

How simple does that make salvation?

Bee's

For those of you who thought we might be deserting our blog...think again. Life has been a bit busy recently and thus the lack of posts. Not to worry, we have so much in our heads to write about the problem is now "where to start?"

Tonight, Josh and I were given something we really are not fond of..you guessed it Bee's. Living on a orchard having bee's around is just part of process. However, tonight after comming home from a wonderful dinner with the Walsh's and Dawson's we found several hives blocking our driveway. We are not too excited about having them around because Josh is really allergic to them, but so it is in the kiwi fruit pollination season. So here comes another adventure. It is probally good that Josh will be traveling soon. Less chance of a sting.

Signing off for the night! Sleep tight!

A Weekend to Honor

This weekend my Dad in Texas had a very special birthday. My Dad is awesome, and I don't know what I would do without him. So in honour of Dad - on cyberspace, I just wanted to say I love you and Happy Birthday! I can't wait to see you again.

YWAM NZ leadership gathering in TGA

We've had a fantastic week this week. About 70 ministry leaders including the National Leadership Team for YWAM New Zealand all converged on Faith Bible College to spend time together seeking the Lord and connecting as a family. It's so great to rub shoulders with so many who carry a similar heart and passion. I had forgotten how much I love the YWAM family, and appreciate so many around the world who have given everything in order to "Know God and to make him known" in this world in these days!

We had a guy named Kel Steiner speaking on the DTS this week who had been in YWAM for 38 years pioneering YWAM bases in some of the hardest places and situations. He is an incredible man of God with much wisdom. Everyone of his many stories he told us was filled with hope, miracles, anointing, inspiration and grace, we all finished the week wishing he could go on and on. There are few people who have truly given up everything to GO into the nations, who knows what sacrifice is and Kel is one of them.

The DTS only has 2 and 1/2 weeks to go until outreach to the Philippines. Time has flown by. We're so privileged to journey with such a quality group of young people. We've seen incredible change in their lives over the last 10 weeks. It's not always easy, but VERY rewarding.

Weekend happenings with the Coles

We have had huge progress towards our goal of raising finance for our Philippines outreach. On Friday I went and purchased all but 4 of the plane tickets we needed for outreach. Yea! That means we saw over $32K come in a week. God is great! On Friday, we were granted an extension on those final 4 plane tickets, but need to pay for them as soon as possible. So keep believing with us for God to come through for that final amount.

Saturday we got real practical and as a group had a fund raising car wash in the center of town. It was great fun, and helped raise about $700.00.



Yesterday Josh and I drove down to Whakatane to Josh's grandma's house as it was her birthday. All the family had gathered there for the day. We had a great time reconnecting with the cousins, the uncles and aunties and grandma. Fantastic. Ohope beach is lovely too!

Expecting a Miracle

As a DTS we are gearing up for outreach to the Philipines. Outreach always brings lots of excitement and challenges to us all. This week we are facing a challenge, yet I am living in complete expectation that God is going to pull this one off. After all, "all things are possible with God".

Our airline tickets for outreach must be purchased by this Friday; and as you can imagine the finacial commitment is our challenge. We currently need to see about $30,000 come in 72 hours. We invite you to walk in faith with us, believing God to finish what he has started in these students lives. Check this space to hear how it all works out.

Comming to a Home Depot near you.

A couple of weeks ago I was asked to act in an infomercial. A friend of mine invented an addition to toilets that remove the stink, (you guys know why it gets stinky:>) at the touch of a button. The product should be a huge success as American Standard Toilets have just picked up the product. All this being said, you will soon see me on late night TV, acting in an infomercial for the product. You will see me assembling the "odour remover" and adding it to a standard toilet. Pretty funny, huh?It was pretty cool experience. The film crew was part of Peter Jackson's crew (you know, Lord of the Rings) so I can now claim I know some Hollywood/New Zealand famous people!

For those of you who wish to purchase this "odour remover" you will be able to find it at Home Depot in a couple months. Wives of the world rejoice!

DTS Update

This week was definitely a breakthrough week on DTS. Monday seems like 6 months ago, all though it was only 6 days ago, and what has happened between then and now is far too much too put into words. We saw God move in incredible power this week, and the change we've observed in our students is like day and night, it's hard to believe that we are only 5 weeks into it, and have another 4 months to go. I think what I realised this week is how valuable the context and framework of a YWAM discipleship training school is, and I've realised that a lot of what God is doing in the students lives is actually taking place outside of the classroom and House of Prayer, it's around the dinner table, on the weekends, hanging out together at night etc....awesome!

On Monday and Tuesday we talked about what it means to be baptised in the Spirit and also the meaning of water baptism. We then loaded up the vans and went up to a waterfall to baptise 7 students. It was an awesome time, and we were kissed with a double rainbow later that afternoon.

From Wednesday to Friday we had Frank Naea, who used to be president of Youth with a Mission, come and speak on the Father Heart of God. We had an amazing time with him, it was so rich, refreshing, and deep. On Friday the week culminated with an incredible time of ministry, AMAZING! I don't think there was one dry eye in the room for about 3 hours, as we all drank deeply from the love of the Father.

Looking forward to this week, Hank Overeem is coming to speak. Should be good.

How Great is our God

So we just finished watching this DVD called "How Great is our God" from the passion conferance, and all I have to say is WOW, my mind has just been blown at how amazing God really is. To even try to describe what I felt while watching this video would just be utter nonsense compared to how abslutely phenominal and incomparable God really is.

Have you ever got to those points throughout the weeks, months and years where you just get into the grove and everything is comfortable and you think you have a pretty good handle on who God is and how he works. Everything is just "lovely", things may be hard at times, but generally God just comes through and all is well, and everything seems to revolve around how you feel moment by moment?

If you feel like that, get a hold of that video, and let your mind explode as you try to comprehend the vastness and just the plain massiveness yet intimate considerations and immense love of our God.

Grace and Peace to you.

update

We had a great week this week with Dad speaking in the DTS on the whole area of true repentance, and Lordship. There are some very cool things happening in the DTS, and we are thoroughly enjoying being involved.

Josh has been down with the flu for the last 3 days which has been a bummer. He's on the way up though, and should be ok tomorrow.

Drug Arm

Every Friday night we are sending out our DTS students into the city to minister to love on young adults through a ministry called Drug Arm. Here's a story from one of our students who went out on Friday night.

"DRUG ARM: A ministry that travels the city of Tauranga, New Zealand; they travel around in a van and hand out meat pies (similar to pot pies, but way better) and hot coffee or hot chocolate to the wasted youth. After enjoying a bit to eat and a hot drink they then receive the Gospel.

Drug Arm has graciously let us as a DTS come alongside of them on a weekly rotation; last night 4 of us tagged along. Before we went to the streets we all spent 2 hours at the, "Tauranga house of Prayer" interceding for the city of Tauranga. We all were fully amped up for the mission; there are to many stories to go in to, so i think i will just give one for tonight.

We drove down to the beach at around 11pm on Friday night. We came upon a group of youth that ranged from 15-17 years old; they told us that the first thing that came to mind when they thought of God was, "BORING". I felt the Spirit direct me to tell a bit about myself; I also felt that i must look into the eyes of one young man in particularly to preach to him the deep desires of God over his life. The Lord highlighted Psalm 16:11 and John 17:24. Also something worthy of note is that when we had began to talk about Jesus the young kiwi started to play some loud techno music from his cell phone; when i talked with him about the nature of God, and that Jesus desired that he be with Him where He is, and that the desire of God is to set him free from the non-satisfying addictions that ultimately leave him disappointed, and that the creator longed to establish a relationship with him; well this will speak for itself; the 16 year old boy turned off the music, turned to his friends and prompted them all to sit down because this was worthy of listening to. They had traveled an hour to escape the bored routine of life and found themselves coming to this new reality that had never been offered from the church they grew up in; i said to the young boy, "how does this make you feel", he simply replied that, "i feel cheated". We left them that night with the challenge of going to God in prayer; when no one can look or laugh at them, go to God in prayer and seek His truth for yourselves; alongside with the promise that we would pray for them.

From 11pm-4:30am we served and shared with close to 50 young adults; sadly the majority of these were between the age of 13-20 years of age. We watched one of them being arrested for underage drinking.

So please be with us in prayer for the city of Tauranga, New Zealand. Seeds are being planted and we are praying that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ would cause an arresting of the hearts of these weak broken kids who long for an acceptance and deliverance from life as they know it."

DTS Crew...

Well, we thought it would time to introduce you to our crew that we'll be with for the next 4 and 1/2 months. They're an incredible bunch, and we're blessed that God would draw such quality young people from all over the earth to be trained and equipped here with us. As far as we are aware this is the first DTS that has been intentionally run alongside a House of Prayer. Lovin' it so far.

Spring ....well maybe :>

Winter is still hanging around but more and more we are getting beautiful Spring days. These flours and fresh lemons straight from the trees are some of the signs that tell me that summer is on the way. What a great time to be in New Zealand. These trees are right in our line of site from the patio. They are absolutely gorgeous and so fragrant. I love that winter is almost really over, now if only those storm clouds that are building would get blown out to sea!



I LOVE THIS TREE



LOOK AT THE BLOSSOMS



A TIME TO PLANT SUMMER VEGETABLES - THEY TASTE BETTER FRESH!



LEMONS FROM THE TREE!



OUR KIWI FRUIT ORCHARD

into the groove

Well we're into the 2nd week of the DTS here in Tauranga, and it's going great guns so far. Aaron Walsh, the director of Tauranga House of Prayer, is speaking this week, and allready after one session, our minds have been blown to bits as we've dived head first into the subject of "the Nature and Character of God" or in other words, "What is God like". Yeah it's a topic that will take the rest of our lives to search out, but we had a great time with Aaron today.

We have allready fallen in love who God has soveriegnly led to tauranga for this season. It will be a lifechanging experience for all involved, undoubtedly.

On the weekend, I went fishing with Raph and Richard to Lake Rotarua and we ended up landing 7 good sized trout, 6 rainbows and a big brown that weighed between 9-10 lbs. Massive! Raph was stoked with that one. Great to find time for recreation and fun in the midst of business.

iDTS Has Started

Well it is way to late to be writing a blog...but for all those parents who are wondering if their children have made it to Tauranga. All of our students have arrived safe and sound....and we are only missing one piece of luggage! Things got off to great start today, it looks like we are going to have a great time together. Today was a day for orientation and introductions, and tomorrow we are diving into more of the nuts and bolts of what can be expected out this next 5 months.

We love you all. More to come soon!

Getting Ready

As I write this, I know there are a handful of people who running around doing last minute shopping and beginning to pack their bags for their journey to the ends of the earth. For some, in a few hours they will board planes and begin to head in our direction. It is crazy to think that in just a few days our students will arrive to their home for the next three months, the beautiful coastal city Tauranga.

All but one staff member has arrived and we have been in meetings all week long. The preparation, both spiritually and practically for a 1st time school is huge. Little by little it is getting done though. Excitement is in the air, and it is very evident that God is on the move. We look forward to sharing more with you soon.

By the way - seriously praise the Lord for "crock pots" we wouldn't be eating without them! There simply isn't time to cook.

House of Prayer

We've spent the last 10 days or so just getting back in the grove of what's happening here in Tauranga. I have realised more than ever the importance of the House of Prayer. Being away in Korea for 6 weeks left me starving for an environment of corperate prayer and worship. Stepping back into the House of Prayer in Tauranga has been so refreashing, and has given the ability to rest and refocus, without having to have a "holiday". True rest comes from Jesus....being in His presance. I feel rested and ready to launch in this next phase. We have the DTS beginning in just 8 days from now which we are preparing vigorously for. There is a lot going on at the moment, but I have been encouraged just to keep the main thing the main thing, and lean into God and let Him do what He does so well.

Home Sweet Home

Yeah, it's great to be home and in our own bed. We have spent the last two days recovering from lack of sleep, I can't remember the last time I slept 12 hours straight. After 29 hours worth of travel, it was such a good feeling to step into our own little cottage having finished well what we set out to do. I've learnt over the last 5 years or so that its most important to finish well.

We had a smooth trip back to NZ. No problems whatsoever. It just seemed to take forever. Thanks to a cancelled flight in Sydney we were able to depart two hours earlier than we originally thought which was nice.

Roast chicken was on the menu first night home, such a nice change after Kim Chee and rice. We're going to take it easy this week, before a 2 week onslaught before DTS starts. Looking forward to it.

On the way home....

Well, here we are, 6 weeks after leaving NZ for Korea....sitting at the Internet lounge at Seoul Airport. An incredible last 6 weeks in Jeju, an amazing bunch of students, some great times with God, ministering to those around us, a steep learning curve, and many great korean meals! We've had a blast here in South Korea and have learnt so much. It will probably take a good week or two to process our time here, but we can say that we have finished well, and are leaving totally satisfied with what we have been able to accomplish. No regrets!

Thank you to all of you who have helped us make this time a success! Huge!

allright, over and out, time to have our last taste of korea before we hit NZ!

Take it easy.

Starting to Transition

It looks like even our students kids know that transition is coming soon. These two little one's belong to JungMo and SungWan. This family might be joining Josh and I for the iDTS in Tauranga....I guess we will see if we need a Korean translator after they talk to their church.

Graduation and Celebration

Today marks the end of the school term at the University of the Nations. Last night we had campus wide graduation for all of the students at the University, and the President of the university, Sun-Gun, addressed the student body. Each school leader had a chance to share a little bit about the school, and Josh seriously brought the house down. I don't know if it was because of what he said, or because they are just really excited to have an young English speaking school leader. Whatever the reason, it was a great night and we felt that the University of Nations was standing behind IWT and our students.

Tonight we have our final time with the students, which is actually quite sad. It is always hard to say goodbye when you have put your all into it. We are headed out to a Korean BBQ all you can eat buffet to enjoy what is referred to as a "Love Feast". It should be a good time of hanging out together and laughing through the Konglish (Korean English) conversations. I imagine some eating competitions might just be in order. That being said, I'm putting my money on Hoon!

This is Hoon! He ate two whole chickens the other day!

What's on the Menu.

Tonight, Moses, Joanna, Josh, Aaron and myself went out from campus for dinner. Of course we let Moses pick the place, and he took us to "the very special place". We got out of the car at a place that had a cartoon character of a horse on the sign. There was also a type of corral to the side of the building. Josh and I didn't think much of it, until we sat down and started looking at the menu. You guessed it - they had horse on the menu. Apparently it is speciality and tastes great BBQ'ed. Ah! Now I am from Texas, and horses are our friends - they are not dinner. We ate beef and pork instead.
After some ice cream for dessert, we headed back to campus for our night class. We were met by Daniel, our translator. He asked if we had a good dinner? However, before we could answer, he announce "we had dog for dinner - it was good you were not here." Ah! Are you kidding me. I have nothing left to say - Koreans eat horse and dog. I guess you learn something new everyday, however some of those things you wish you didn't know.

Great Ministry Time

Last night we had a great ministry time with Aaron. We were covering the topic of the Father Heart of God, and the topic of shame keeping you from knowing who you are in Christ and understanding your place in history. You could tell from the beginning of the lecture that it was hitting the "nail right on the head". It was one of those nights were God just wanted to come and touch people.

God wanted our students to feel His presence and they did. Josh and I were talking about it afterwards and both commented that we just love it when God decides to come and change mindset and bring refreshing. It makes our job really easy, we just pray and comfort when God starts moving.

Into the last week....

We can't believe how fast the time has gone by since being here in Jeju. It's mind boggling to think that we only have one week left with these students in this phase of the IWT process. We've had an incredible time so far, and are looking forward to finishing well. I believe that the best is still to come this week. Graduation will be on Firday night at Korean BBQ!

We have Aaron Walsh from the House of Prayer here with us this week which is great. It's great to have a friend around who speaks english and knows who we are and what we're about.

Talented Students

As I walked toward our classroom after lunch today, I could hear loud laughter coming from our room. As I opened the door, I instantly knew why everyone was laughing. Hoon, one of our funniest students was up at the front of the room drawing characters of Josh, myself, Moses (the IWT Korea leader, and Sun-Gun (the University President). Let's just say Hoon has talent - though I think he has made Josh look a bit more like superman than himself.

Chicken Soup...kind of

Yesterday was the traditional 2nd hottest day of the year. In Korea, they celebrate this "hot day" like a holiday of sorts. In honor of this holiday, Koreans prepare a "wonderful dish". A chicken soup of sorts. Now when you think about it, eating soup on a hot day is not the smartest idea in the book - but then again Koreans eat some sort of soup everyday and in my experience it is hot almost everyday. Go figure.

So, at dinner time, the entire university body lined up outside the dinning hall early in anticipation of this "wonderful dish". Josh and I stood in the sun with the rest of our students, and began to get really excited about the chicken. Now, please note we have not eaten chicken since arriving in Korea (this is due to the threat of bird flue). When we got inside this is what was served.



Despite how it looks, it tasted just like Campbell's Chicken and Rice Soup out of can. We just had to pull the chicken off the bones! Can you believe over 400 people were served and entire chicken, not counting those that went back for seconds!

Back in South Korea

After a very long couple of days of travel, I (Misty) have arrived back in Jeju Island. It is wonderful to be back together with Josh and great to be back on campus with our students. Our students have been so welcoming and keep commenting that Josh looks much happier now that I am back:> This morning we started the week with campus wide worship, and I have to say it was great to be with people that are totally different than you, yet have the same heart to worship THE KING.

Yesterday, Josh and I decided to try and fight jet lag and went on a little hiking excursion to Sunset Peak. Sunset Peak is a volcanic crater right by the sea. Of course by the time we got there it was the hottest time of the day with about 100% humidity. These two facts alone almost made me chicken out, until I saw a few Koreans hiking the crater with umbrella's held high to protect themselves from the sun (they take sun protection very seriously here - the lowest Sun Screen protection we could find was rated SPF 47). So after lathering up in sun screen, loading up with two large bottles of water, and caring our umbrella up we climbed the crater. I have to be honest and say I have not sweat that much in ages. Here are a few pics - it really was quite beautiful....


Us at pre-climbing Sunset Peak


The volcanic crater


The view from the top - supposedly you can see Japan from here...on a clear day.


The umbrella was a brilliant idea.


The Volcanic Landscape of Jeju